Always trying new and old cafes, bars, restaurants, venues and events, I love wine, coffee, writing and taking photos, and am often asked for recommendations by tourists and locals alike. Here are some of my experiences as a Melbourne Patron.

Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Search This Blog

Melbourne Jazz Festival at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club

Over the last few years, I have had the pleasure of attending the odd gig as part of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. I'm not generally a big listener of jazz, but I do enjoy it live - either a more traditional style, or something a bit more unusual and challenging.

Years ago, after a relationship break-up, I took to listening to ABC Classic FM, which ran a late-night jazz show (possibly still does). In one particularly glum mood, I heard the alternately freakish and dulcet tones of David Liebman's saxophone. It inspired me to buy one of the more unusual albums I own, a collection of his songs named after various colours (including the one I'd heard on the radio), aptly named Colors. It has kept me company in some of my oddest moods - because there is some music out there that magically fits those miniscule flashes of undefinable feelings that flit through our psyche. Ever since then, I have been much more open to trying different kinds of music, and in particular, different kinds of jazz.

Last year's memorable gig was that of Kneebody on the upstairs level of the Forum. Not only did the saxophonist have excellent forearms, but the combination of instruments, the improvisations that ensued, the obvious passion of the musicians for what they were doing, and the FEEL of the music made me remember that gutteral excitement: that music can be new and enthralling.

Despite living in Melbourne for five and a half years now, I am ashamed to admit I had never been to Bennetts Lane before this gig. (If it redeems me at all, I had seen jazz played at the Paris Cat and Uptown Jazz before this.) I enjoyed Bennetts Lane, whilst also finding it slightly seedy - as every good jazz club should be!

The Allan Browne Quintet played their signature "Drunken Boat"- their version of 25 verses of Rimbaud's poem from the 1870s, performed with all the drama and nuance of lilting poetry. It was quite an emotional journey: dizzy, electric, swaying, mournful, profound. Solidly good jazz by solidly good musicians - I believe they're regulars at Bennetts Lane, should you care to check them out.

I didn't get any good photos of the set itself (I never do, in a dark setting, with so much movement going on), but here are a few from my entry into the club. If nothing else, maybe they will inspire some wandering of Melbourne's laneways at night.

Popular posts from this blog

Spice Temple
Neil Perry's Fine Dining Chinese Restaurant at Crown, Southbank, Melbourne
It's considered an institution in Melbourne, and with a chef to its name like Neil Perry, a location like Southbank, and an existence of six years in the Melbourne restaurant scene (when staying power is notoriously elusive), it's no wonder. Spice Temple's name is a pretty accurate description of the restaurant: food heavy in spices and spiciness; a dim space with a sort of hushed reverence.

The quiet tone of Spice Temple (Shop 7, Crown Complex, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank) could well be due to its design. With lots of dark wood and more traditional red and gold carpet, one might be forgiven for thinking it's a little dated. What keeps it current is the symmetrical and perpendicular fittings, creating neat squared-off eating nooks, and the dark, felt-like soundproofing material spaced out overhead, muffling any white noise.

When Smith Street had just become a local area for me, I used to walk past Cavallero and think about how I 'must try that place soon'. But as everyone knows, Smith Street (and surrounds) is not short of venues, and I must have been busy checking out all the others first, because before I knew it, Cavallero had closed and I had missed my chance. Apparently it had been struggling. Who then, would dare to take on the site, and what would they make of it? Smith Street is a prime location, but it's also full of competition. This would have to be good.

The shops along Domain Road, South Yarra have a reputation for being a bit posh. It is South Yarra, after all, and the majority are cafes and restaurants that take advantage of their location (opposite Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens) by providing some outdoor seating. Apparently The Real Housewives of Melbourne even frequent one or two venues along the strip.

A little further down the road, on the corner of Millswyn Street, Entrecôte(131-133 Domain Road, South Yarra) is having a party of its own - still refined, but with a little more colour and personality. In operation as a Parisian-style steak bistro since January 2015, the restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week in the former site of the infamous Lynch's Restaurant.

Business partners Jason McLaren Jones and Adam North developed the idea when they bumped into each other in Paris in late 2014. They took a meal together at the institutional Le Relais de L'Entrecôte: a no-bookings bistro that ser…